Trojan Times

October 2014

Trojan Times

October 2014

Daphne Middle School Student Newspaper

LOVE YOURSELF. BE DRUG FREE.™

by Madison Haas

This year's Red Ribbon Week theme is “Love Yourself. Be Drug Free.” Red Ribbon Week will be held on the week of October 27-31. The Red Ribbon Week leader for DMS is Maura Miles. She will be supported by Hunter Sessions and Ja'Core' Glover. Details of the events planned for the week will be published at a later date. Visit the website http://redribbon.org/ for more information on Red Ribbon Week.

Stock the Closets

by Brady Wiggins

The DMS Peer Helpers supported the United Way of Baldwin County “Day of Caring” on October 3, 2014 by hosting Stock the Closets, a uniform drive for Daphne Feeder Pattern Schools. Daphne Middle School students donated over 225 items. W.J. Carroll joined Daphne Middle in this kindness project. We accepted donations of any size of the following items: navy blue; white, and royal purple polo shirts; belts; navy and khaki shorts, and spirit shirts from previous years. Peer Helpers worked with the special needs class to wash and dry all clothes, fold, and sort them into sizes. Clothes that were not appropriate sizes for middle school children were then donated to the elementary schools in the feeder pattern.

Lifesaver Pledges

Peer Helpers will be selling Lifesaver pledge sheets during the week of October 13 for a $1 donation to meet their gifting goal to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

When you donate, you join efforts with thousands of people nationwide to raise money for AFSP’s vital research and education programs to prevent suicide and save lives.

Out of the Darkness Walk

The Peer Helpers will be participating in the Out of the Darkness Daphne community walk at Daphne City Hall on October 19th. The walk starts at 2:45 PM, ends 4:00 PM, with check-in time 1:00 PM. Find out more about Out of the Darkness sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Donate to the Peer Helper Team here.

Walk to Save Lives

Suicide claimed 39,518 lives in 2011 in the United States alone, with someone dying by suicide every 13.3 minutes. A suicide attempt is made every minute of every day, resulting in nearly one million attempts made annually.

Lifesaver Pledges

Peer Helpers will be selling Lifesaver pledge sheets during the week of October 13 for a $1 donation to meet their gifting goal to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

When you donate, you join efforts with thousands of people nationwide to raise money for AFSP’s vital research and education programs to prevent suicide and save lives.

Out of the Darkness Walk

The Peer Helpers will be participating in the Out of the Darkness Daphne community walk at Daphne City Hall on October 19th. The walk starts at 2:45 PM, ends 4:00 PM, with check-in time 1:00 PM. Find out more about Out of the Darkness sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Donate to the Peer Helper Team here.

Walk to Save Lives

Suicide claimed 39,518 lives in 2011 in the United States alone, with someone dying by suicide every 13.3 minutes. A suicide attempt is made every minute of every day, resulting in nearly one million attempts made annually.

Daphne Middle School Band

By Alyssa Ducote

In Mrs. Thomas’ band classes, things are anything but quiet. The instruments in the DMS band include clarinets, flutes, saxophones, trumpets, trombones, baritones, tubas, drums, French horns, and a bassoon. All of these well trained musicians and their instruments makes for a lovely melody of music. In the coming weeks, a lot will be happening. Currently they’re learning band songs and solos. They’ll soon be creating music on GarageBand on their MacBooks, learning the blues, and playing for field trips. First chair musicians will be selected as well, through a competition. For a weekly grade, students record the time they practiced for on their practice cards, get them signed by a parent, and turn them in at the end of the week. To communicate, Mrs. Thomas uses email and the Remind application on smartphones to notify students and parents of band assignments and upcoming events.

Upcoming Sports Events

Games are $4.00 for Middle School students.

Football Schedule:

Home Games- Gulf Shores Oct. 2nd, and Summerdale Oct. 9th

Away Games- Fairhope Oct. 16th and Championship Oct. 23rd

All games start at 6:00 PM

Cross Country Schedule:

Oct. 7 at Orange Beach Sports Complex

Oct. 14 County Championship at Newton school

All meets start at 4:30. Girls will run first and boys will run as soon as the girls are finished.

The Chess Team practices each Friday from 3:15 until 4:15. This year's Chess Tournaments will be held on October 2, November 6, December 11, and January 8.

National Junior Honor Society

by Julian White

The Daphne Middle School National Junior Honor Society, sponsored by Karen Pearson and Gay Garafola, recently elected officers. Hunter Sessions was elected as President, Nick Thompson as Vice President, Alyssa Ducote as Secretary, Lauren Buehler as Treasurer; and Lexi Adams as Historian. On Saturday, September 20, NJHS students participated in Coastal Cleanup. Other service projects planned for the year are hosting a food drive for Prodisee Pantry, volunteering at Prodisee Pantry, and a Toys for Tots toy drive. They also support one cause a year that includes Cancer or Alzheimer's research. Each student is required 12 hours of community service, so they’ll be busy. Stay tuned for more information.

Holt's Celebrity Look A Likes

Prodisee Pantry Turkey Trot

Peer Helpers and NJHS (National Junior Honors Society) will be at the Turkey Trot on October 26, 2014. This 5K and 1 mile Fun Run winds through Old Town Daphne, starting and finishing at Lott Park.

This event is run by Prodisee Pantry, a nonprofit organization that supplies people with emergency canned food. Don't forget to bring a canned food item when you come to the race!

Registration cost is $18 for the 5K and $10 for the Fun Run. Late registration cost is $20 for the 5K and $10 for the Fun Run.

We can't wait to see you there!

Alert- It is Time for Girl's Basketball

by Anna Glass

Attention all 7th and 8th grade girls. Basketball season is just around the corner! Coach Leslie Majewski is holding the first tryout for 7th grade girls on Wednesday, October 1st from 5:15 until 7:15. The first tryout day for girls in 8th grade is Monday, October 6th from 3:15 until 5:15. All paperwork is due prior to tryouts, so don’t forget about your physical! If you are a girl currently on the 8th grade volleyball team, you will be able to tryout after the championships. The first game for 7th grade will be on Wednesday, November 5th, an at home game against UMS at 4:30. I wish all the girls that tryout a good luck!

All Hallows Eve

by Mykenzie Hunt

Halloween was originally All Hallows' Eve. The tradition of dressing in costumes comes from an old belief that October 31 is the night monsters come out and attack. People would dress up as something scary to scare away the witches and ghosts. The

jack-o'-lanterns where put out to have the same affect; to scare off the monsters. After years of this, It was put off as nonsense, but It was brought back as a kids' holiday in which you get candy while dressing up as your favorite character. In present day Halloween is celebrated by all ages, ringing in the change from Daylight Savings Time, which is November 2 this year.